


One Too Many

by closetblinger



Category: B.A.P
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Drug Dealing, Drug Use, Gang Violence, M/M, Mild Gore, Underage Drug Use, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-07
Updated: 2016-08-07
Packaged: 2018-07-29 21:49:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,592
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7700962
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/closetblinger/pseuds/closetblinger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Daehyun wanted to escape the world. He found an underworld instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One Too Many

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic I started a few years ago on another site and never finished. I decided to pick it back up. The first few chapters are basically revised versions of my original work. I hope you enjoy!

Daehyun wasn’t one to rush to school under any circumstances.

Even when he found himself waking up at almost 11 a.m., even when he was starting to get dressed at a quarter to noon, the young man was in absolutely no hurry to get to school. It didn’t surprise him that he was waking up so late. His alarm clock was on the other side of the room on top of a pile of clothes; he had no doubt thrown it in his semi-conscious frustration.

He ate cup noodles on his way to school, his brows furrowing as he contemplated turning right the hell around and sleeping the rest of the day away. His consideration didn’t last long; the walk to school was much too short, and he was soon shamelessly waltzing into the front classroom. Thirty pairs of eyes were on him from the moment he stepped through the creaky door until he took his seat in the back of the room.

“Where have you been?” Lee Byunghun mouthed as he threw a dull pencil at Daehyun. The boy just smiled. He knew his best friend was only asking because he had suffered through class alone all morning. Daehyun didn’t respond; in fact, he didn’t much at all until the two of them were headed to lunch.

“You overslept. Again.” Byunghun deadpanned as he used his shoulder to bump Daehyun into a wall. The latter laughed and shoved him back, and he almost pushed his friend into a couple of girls giggling in their general direction. “You’re gonna get a reputation for being a badass if you don’t watch out.”

“I’m not a badass,” Daehyun laughed after he smiled brightly at the blushing girls. “After those stupid entrance exams I think I deserve a break.”

Byunghun hummed his agreement and both boys tried to shove the memories of the exams from their minds. The dreaded college entrance exams that every Korean student studied painstakingly for months - _years,_ even - were finally over. The only thing left was to wait for the results. Daehyun personally didn’t give a damn about his results. He didn’t care about higher education at all; the only reason he even half-assed his exams was to appease his father.

Daehyun frowned at the thought. He’d never done much for himself or because he wanted to. Everything he did was for someone else: for his father, for his teachers, for his classmates. His life tended to revolve around other people and he hated it.

“He you okay?” Byunghun poked at his friend’s shoulder and frowned when he was shrugged away. “You have that ‘I’m-thinking-too-hard’ look on your face.”

The boy nodded slightly and forced himself to grin. “I’m just _starving,_ ” he chimed, even though he had eaten less than 45 minutes ago. He didn’t feel like talking about his family or exams or anything unpleasant. “Let’s ge-” he was interrupted by his own grunt and a blow to his shoulder. He looked up to apologize to whomever he ran into, but he immediately stopped cold.

The narrowed eyes, clenched chiseled jaw, and pursed lips of Moon Jongup met the boy’s surprised stare and both boys paused in the middle of the hallway. Behind him, Daehyun heard Byunghun’s breath hitch in anticipation. After a few seconds of glaring, Jongup turned and sauntered towards the cafeteria, leaving a stunned Daehyun in his wake.

“Oh my God,” Byunghun breathed as he patted both of Daehyun’s shoulders from behind. “I thought he was going to murder you.”

“When the hell did he get back?” the brunette breathed, realizing belatedly that he’d been holding his breath. “I thought he dropped out or something months ago.”

“Apparently not. He just showed up this morning, I heard.”

Daehyun shook his head in disbelief and slowly walked towards the cafeteria. He hadn’t seen the younger male in at least two months, and he - along with everyone else in school - had wondered what had happened to him. He never excepted to see Jongup in school again. He was, for lack of a better word, a thug. Simple as that.

There were rumors that he was involved in a gang, but no one in school really knew him well enough to confirm. No one was bold enough to ask him about it. The muscles that protruded from his school uniform dissuaded most people from even talking to him. But that didn’t stop the students from whispering about his sudden disappearance. Some people thought he’d been shipped to some school for troubled kids. Others speculated that he’d been arrested for crimes varying from burglary to assault.

“Goodie,” Daehyun mumbled darkly when he spotted Jongup at one of the corner tables with a few other equally shady kids. They were talking to him enthusiastically, but Jongup seemed completely out of it. Whenever someone addressed him, he blinked slowly before answering with barely moving lips. He looked not at them, but blankly past them.

“Does he look weird to you?” Byunghun asked, and Daehyun slowly nodded. “Wonder what’s wrong with him.”

Daehyun shrugged dismissively and moved towards the opposite end of the cafeteria. He wanted to be as far away from Moon Jongup as possible. Both his teachers and his father kept him under a microscope at all times. Despite his generally dismissive attitude, he did all that he could to keep out of trouble. Jongup happened to ooze trouble from his very pores.

Halfway through lunch, Daehyun noticed Jongup had disappeared. Or rather, Byunghun noticed. During their break, he would only talk about Jongup’s disappearance and sudden reappearance at school. Jongup, Jongup, Jongup. Coupled with the low, excited murmur that ebbed and flowed depending on Jongup’s every move, Byunghun’s speculations were getting on his nerves.

“You should like a stupid gossiping girl. Just shut up about him!” Daehyun practically growled when he was finally fed up with the one-sided conversation.

“Sorry,” came an insincere mumbled reply that became more urgent when Daehyun roughly pushed his chair away from the table. “Wait! Sorry! Where are you going?”

He spat, “Restroom,” and stomped away, cursing his friend under his breath the entire walk through the halls. He vented his frustration by roughly pushing open the door, but the sight inside made his muscles and irritation freeze.

Jongup was standing in front of the mirror, fumbling with a small bottle in his hand. Daehyun’s eyes widened as he watched the younger boy shake free a number of pills and down them like a pro - dry, no water. He wanted to turn and leave but he was so fascinated by what he just saw that he momentarily forgot why he was there in the first place.

“It’s rude to stare.”

Daehyun blinked stupidly when the other boy turned and smiled. Jongup held out the bottle to him, the few remaining pills clattering inside of the plastic bottle.”What, you want one?”

“N-no.”

Jongup smiled brightly. Daehyun shuddered. He could only think he had never seen the guy smile genuinely. Jongup took at step towards him. Daehyun took a step backwards, earning a low chuckle from the younger. “It won’t kill you, I swear.”

“I don’t want any.” Daehyun’s voice didn’t come out nearly as firm as he wanted. It wavered in tense vibrato from nervousness and numbing shock. _“I knew he was a drug addict.”_

“I’m not an addict,” the other boy beamed as if reading the other’s mind. It was weird to see this cheery side of Jongup, so different from the moody and murderous look he’d had earlier that day. “It takes the edge off being in this hell hole for so long.You know?”

As Moon Jongup towards him and the door, Daehyun automatically stepped to the side, still staring with his mouth slightly open. The younger male stopped when they were side by side and held out his hand. The pills tapped happily against the bottle. “First two’s free.”

He was afraid to refuse. Even though Jongup was clearly in a drug-induced good mood, it scared the hell out of Daehyun that someone could be completely altered by something so small. So, without a word, Daehyun took the bottle and, since the younger’s piercing eyes were still watching, he tucked it securely into his pocket.

Satisfied, Jongup gave him a light pat on the shoulder and cheer, “See you around,” as if he believed every word.

Daehyun could only gulp and nod as the door swung closed. When the light footsteps faded, his eyes dropped to his pocket where the tiny pill bottle bushed against his thigh.

 

 

“Will you _please_ tell me what’s going on?” Byunghun whined for what had to be the hundredth time that afternoon. He was practically clinging to Daehyun as they departed from school and headed towards the home of the eldest, who had barely said a word since returning from the restroom after lunch.

He could still feel the bottle in his pocket and just barely make out the gentle clatter of the two pills shifting as he walked. Daehyun had no idea why he held onto them, why he hadn’t thrown them away or flushed them as soon as Jongup left him standing slack-jawed in the boys’ restroom.

He couldn’t figure out why Jongup gave him the bottle in the first place. He didn’t seem like the type to pass out drugs indiscriminately in his free time. Daehyun felt _singled out,_ and that scared him.

The two boys entered a large, gated home and barely paused to remove their shoes before heading upstairs. The house was extravagantly decorated, full of expensive-looking lamps, vases, and paintings. Daehyun had always hated the décor; it was too pretentious for his tastes.

When the door was shut tightly behind them, Daehyun finally turned to look his friend in the face. Byunghun hitched his brow expectantly, and the other boy sighed and reached into his pocket. “Just don’t freak out, okay?”

The younger boy rolled his eyes sighed. “I _won’t,_ so just tell me- what the _hell, Daehyun?”_

Daehyun cringed at the completely expected response. His friend snatched the bottle away and shook it accusingly in his direction. “Is this why you were late to school today? Are you doing _drugs_ now?”

“No! Would you shut up and let me explain?”

The two were yelling at one another, neither able to keep their growing distress in check. Byunghun’s face was flushed in anger and frustration; Daehyun’s was flushed in embarrassment and panic. “You might not believe me when I tell you though.”

The younger responded with a dramatic eye roll.

“I got it from Jongup.”

Silence. Daehyun hadn’t expected that. He expected Byunghun to yell at him more, or to at least demand further explanation. Instead, he stared at Daehyun with his mouth slightly open, shock evident in his eyes. Finally, a smirk painted his lips and he wagged his finger at Daehyun triumphantly. 

“I knew he was a drug addict. Didn’t I say that months ago? I _knew_ it!”

“That is not the reply I was expecting,” Daehyun deadpanned, and Byunghun grinned.

“Doesn’t matter. I was right. I wa- wait, why do you have it?” He gasped theatrically when Daehyun shifted uncomfortably and sat down at his desk. “Did you _steal_ it from him?! He is going to KILL you!”

“Would you calm the fuck down? He _gave_ it to me. Why are you being so dramatic?”

Byunghun stumbled over his words as he looked from Daehyun to the bottle and back again. Daehyun sighed at his friend’s confusion and his difficulty believing Jongup would just hand over a bottle of pills to someone he barely knew. Then again, he had a hard time believing it himself. “He _gave_ it to you? He must have been pretty out of it."

Daehyun shrugged instead of answering and watched as the younger boy turned the bottle in his hands. He popped it open and let one of the pills slide into his palm. “So…what is it?”

“No idea. I don’t know much about this stuff.”

He leaned forward to take the bottle back. Byunghun hesitated, but eventually conceded and replaced the pill into the bottle and handed it over. “We could always google it.”

“For what? It’s not like you’re actually going to take them.” Byunghun flopped on his back onto the bed and spread his arms and legs as if preparing to make a snow angel. “Who cares what he’s on? Toss ‘em.”

Drugs had never interested Daehyun much. Sure, there was a certain mystery about them, but he had always been afraid to try anything. He was neither daring nor stupid. Nevertheless, he was intrigued despite himself, and Jongup’s words echoed in his head. _They take the edge off._

“I just wanna know what the guy’s taking. I’ll toss it afterwards, I promise.”He tucked it into his desk drawer and closed it, ignoring Byunghun’s protests to throw the drugs away. The older boy brushed him off and told him not to worry about it. He wouldn’t take them. He was only morbidly curious.

“Aren’t you the one,” Daehyun smirked, “who couldn’t stop talking about him earlier?” He changed the pitch of his voice to make it squeaky, obnoxious. “Oh, Jonguppie, Jonguppie! I wonder what kind of soap he uses! Does he waer boxers or briefs or _both?_ At the _same time?_ He’s soooo mysterious that he could get away with that! Jonguppiiiii - OW OW OW OKAY!”

He yelled and squirmed as Byunghun had started to kick punch him in mock fury. Once he stopped his tirade, he gave the older boy one last kick for good measure. He pouted and noisily flopped back onto the bad. “Fine, fine. Just let me know when you figure it out. I guess it’ll be more fun to know what exactly has him flying high in front of everyone’s faces. He really has no fear at all, that kid.”

The two quickly became bored after the topic of the pills was abandoned, and Byunghun had left within the hour after mumbling about food and sleep. Daehyun let him go without saying much, but soon found himself bored of his own company. He was alone in an empty house, so he turned on his music and lied down on the bed with a heavy sigh. He would have stayed that way for hours had he not looked at his phone. There was an unread message from the woman who cleaned the house during the week.

As soon as he saw the message, he wish he hadn’t.

≪ _I forgot to tell you yesterday. Your father’s coming back from his trip this evening! I have a special dinner delivered so don’t worry about cooking≫_

Daehyun fell into his pillow, covered his face with his hands, and groaned. He hadn’t seen his father in weeks because he’d gone on some important business trip or another. It wasn’t out of the ordinary, and the boy actually liked when his father was gone.

He loved it, actually, and the freedom that came with it. He was free to be himself without worrying about the visage of his father bearing down on him, reminding him of all his shortcomings and that his future was completely tied to his family name and his family name alone. 

With another groan, Daehyun turned over in his bed and turned his music up so loud that he thought his ears would burst. He hoped that, for once, the mental walls that he built whenever his father was around wouldn’t crumble into dust.


End file.
